Matt:No shit. I saw Mom and Dad today.
Jonathan:Aaand my evening is officially ruined.
Jack:No wonder you’re sitting out and brooding all alone in the cold.
I looked over at Merrie. I had thought the phone chime would have woken her up, but she still slept.
The bars are closed. You should go.
I slowly glided over to the nativity scene. I took off the thin jacket I wore over the short-sleeved shirt and laid it over her.
I walked away and motioned for Kringle to follow me. Instead, he wagged his tail and headed into the manger, flopping down beside Merrie, who murmured and rolled over, wrapping her arms around the big furry animal.
“I’m leaving you here,” I hissed to the dog.
I looked around. Then back at Merrie.
Fuck.
24
Merrie
Iwas in a toasty warm sauna. Steam from the shower puffed in my face.
“Yes, I would like a chili cheese hot dog for breakfast,” I murmured. Something warm and wet licked my nose.
“Ugh.” I sat up blearily and pulled a piece of hay out of my mouth.
Matt’s dog raised his giant head and wagged his tail at me.
“Did you get lost?” I asked Kringle, wishing an eggnog latte would magically appear in front of me. “Did mean old Matt abandon you and force you out into the cold?”
“No, I certainly did not.”
Matt was sitting on a bench across from the nativity scene. With his feet on the seat of the bench, he balanced on the backrest, and the layer of snow on his hair and shoulders, he was like some sort of winter fay, coming to take me off to a magical place where if I ate the food I could never leave for a hundred years.
Screw that. I don’t want to go to a magical place if I can’t even eat anything there.
“Were you watching me?” I demanded, standing up and trying to brush the hay off my coat.
“Just protecting my investment.” Matt jumped off the bench in one smooth motion. “Now give me my jacket. You have been asleep all morning. I have other things to do, you know.”
At my feet, a thin dark-gray hoodie was half buried in the hay.
He gave me his jacket?
I couldn’t read the expression on his face.
Matt practically snatched the jacket out of my hands and called for the dog before I even had a chance to ask him what the hell.
I staggered out blinking in the sunlight. It was the perfect day for a Christmas market. Fresh snow blanketed all the roofs of the stalls, making it look like a true Christmas village. The market was full of activity; people were setting up for the big Saturday crowd of tourists.
“Maybe this will be a good sales day for me,” I tried to pep talk myself as I headed back to the shop. I wanted a bath and coffee and a cinnamon bun. And bacon. Always bacon.
Olivia was waiting outside for me. Louis’s head poked out of her jacket. “Oh my god, I have the best news.” My friend was practically bouncing up and down.
I yawned.
